The one who stayed behind
by Oblivian03
Summary: Just a one shot on what could happen when they close the doors of death.


**I do not own Percy Jackson or the Heroes of Olympus series**

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**This is my first Percy Jackson fan fiction so be kind. The beginning is not as good as I would like and the end's alright I suppose, but it was just and idea I had for what might happen in the House of Hades when they closed the doors. Again, it's not very good (though I like the Percy and Hera interaction).**

* * *

Percy, Nico and Annabeth were pelting at full speed down the tunnel, desperate to get to the light beyond and escape the hordes of monsters gashing their teeth and wailing for blood behind them. Being demi-gods, they tended to have this effect on mythological beings, or so Percy thought as he sharply turned another corner pulling the injured Annabeth around with him. She gasped in pain.

"Just leave me," she breathed in his ear, her energy levels depleting rapidly with every step. Percy shook his head, refusing to even acknowledge the idea.

"Never," he grunted as he heaved the daughter of Athena further over his shoulder, "I thought you knew me better than that wise girl, and I am not leaving you with that psychotic spider-lady enemy of your mother's again." And he was not the only one to disagree with her.

"The others need you Annabeth, you're one of the seven," Nico interjected, "And besides, who will keep Percy out of trouble if you're gone? I'm not sure anyone else is up to the job and the gods definitely won't do it."

"Not if they continue to be the stubborn bastards they are," Percy grumbled, "Always needing to find a way to ruin my life. Hera's the worst. At least Ares I can shame."

"Or do you mean Mars?" Annabeth asked in a jesting tone that would have been out of place if they had not faced death once a day on a daily bases, or seven times a day for Percy.

"Roman! Greek! What's the difference?" If the situation they were currently in had not been so dire both Nico and Annabeth would have laughed at Percy's exasperation over the matter. He thought it was well given though; the fact that he could hardly stand half the thirteen main gods from Greek mythology and their arrogant, stuck-up forms did not help with the fact that each god now also had a double on the Roman side which was a hundred times more annoying, if that was even possible. Just thinking about it gave Percy the chills.

"Yeah, well we have other things to worry about at the moment, such as whether we can outrun this mob and how we're going to close the door," Nico said, drawing them all back to the reality of the scenario they were now in. Percy hefted Annabeth further over his shoulder as she stumbled and the two males picked up the pace.

"I don't hear you suggesting anything," he shot at his companion of whom he was still furious for not admitting to knowing him back in camp Jupiter, "Did you even have a plan when you came bursting in here to break us out?"

"Yes," Nico snapped back, his tension high under the pressure of the situation, "It was to one; find you, two; set you free, and three; escape while closing the doors of death somewhere in between."

"Oh, a brilliant, well thought out plan," Percy almost snarled, "Now where do the finer details come in?"

"At least it's better than any you could come up with," Annabeth said from her place on his shoulder, wincing as his running steps jarred her injured leg, "Usually you just dive in and kill everything that moved, causing as much destruction as you can. No wonder you and Ares have so much in common."

"Hey, I-"

"Stop it!" Nico shouted, cutting off Percy before he could whip a retort back at Annabeth, "The pit is getting into our minds and messing with our heads."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Percy said darkly. Nico shot him a look which could have frozen water had he possessed the ability to freeze things into ice.

"We need to stop and think things through and create a plan," the child of Hades continued.

"In case you haven't noticed, we've got a horde of vicious beasts about to overwhelm us with the Minotaur at its point," Annabeth cried out. _Hades, _thought Percy, _doesn't that thing ever die? _

When he took the time to think however, he knew that Nico was right, they were letting Tartarus get the better of them. They needed a moment to think, to get themselves together and assess the situation.

"Alright, we can spare a minute, but only a minute," he said to the other two, gently lowering Annabeth down to the ground of the small crevice like space they were currently holed out in, "First things first, how are we going to get out of here and where's this door?"

"The door," said Nico, "Is not far from the one on the other side, almost opposite but not quite. We can easily get out through the doorway, but once they're sealed, we're trapped in here for good."

"Don't forget they have to be sealed at the same time," Annabeth added. Nico nodded his consent at this piece of information.

"Yes, that would be ideal."

"So how do we close one of these doorways then?" Percy asked, "Is than any sort of ritual we're supposed to follow? And where is this thing?" Nico shook his head.

"Not as far as I know," he answered, "And as to where it is; it's only a few tunnels further fown, all you have to do is take the left turn instead of the right one." Percy sighed before turning to face Annabeth.

"Well wise girl, now would be a good time for one of your famous ideas," he said, wishing that everything wasn't always so hard.

"I personally think we should start moving again," Annabeth said, gesturing to the tunnel behind them. The other two followed her gaze.

"What if we split up?" Percy asked, "I could draw them off while you get Annabeth out of here." Nico nodded while Annabeth looked horrified.

"It could work," said the son of Hades as he examined the situation, "I'll help her along and then you can follow after. All we would need is a few minutes head start." Percy nodded.

"A few minutes it is then," he said, "That should be easy to accomplish."

"No!" Annabeth cried, reaching forward to grab his arm, 'I've already lost you once and I am not planning to lose you again because of something as stupid as buying us a few minutes." Percy smiled patronisingly at her.

"Boy, don't I love it when you can't fight back," he said, leaning in to kiss her, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Now go."

Nico forcefully pulled Annabeth to her feet and, with a nod to Percy, dragged her up the tunnel and out of sight. Percy too stepped from their crack and drew Riptide, holding it out in front of him. He stared down the way Nico and Annabeth had left and then flipped his gaze back to the front.

_Don't worry, I'll be fine._

He wondered if Annabeth would ever forgive him. Probably not if he knew her, but he hoped she would understand that it had to be done, that in order to save them all, he had to stay behind and close Death's door on this side.

* * *

Nico panted with the effort of almost fully carrying Annabeth. She was around the same size as him both height and weight wise. Annabeth was also worn out from her experience in the hell-hole.

Again Nico felt a pang of guilt flow through him at not trying harder to reach Percy's hand when they fell in through the hole in the first place (though Percy had been the one to let go). If he had tried just that little bit harder, the blonde leaning half on his shoulder wouldn't look so out of it now and Percy wouldn't have stayed behind. Nico swore in his head. Knowing Percy and knowing his fatal flaw, he could guess the reason as to why the demi-god had chosen not to run from the monsters with them and it had nothing to do with buying time.

He looked up and saw two shadows coming towards them, dark and ominous. This time he cursed himself for not being able to wield his sword properly and not checking as they rounded each corner for hostile creatures. Luckily the beings coming towards them were not hostile, at least not towards them anyway.

"Here, take her," said the son of Hades, pushing Annabeth onto Frank and Jason as the finished rounding the corner in front. He then turned to sprint back the way he had come.

"What?" asked Jason, shocked by the fact he was going back into Tartarus, "Where are you going?"

"And where's Percy?" Frank added.

"Who do you think I'm going back to get?" Nico yelled over his shoulder, "Oh, and once you're done, come back. I may need backup."

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The Minotaur was the first monster to come charging up the tunnel and it roared at the sight of Percy standing their diffidently, sword raised and ready.

"Come on you great brute, put up a real challenge," he muttered, ducking to the side and brining his sword up and over his head as the bull-headed man ran past. The body and head fell simultaneously to the ground, both disappearing into a thick dust as it was destroyed. Percy scattered the dust and moved back a couple of paces towards the left-hand fork of the tunnel. Ten more monsters appeared in front of him.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said as they all bore down on him, horns, claws and teeth all grating against the stone. Hooves and giant feet too shook the ground beneath his feet. Percy took each one out easily, barely using two blows to slay any one. He kicked the dust around with his feet but already the dust was starting to reform and what was more, the whole herd was now only a few feet away from laying eyes on him.

"Need a hand?" asked an all too familiar voice behind him. Percy grinned.

"If you could do something that would put them all out for a bit longer than usual, it would be much appreciated," he said, never lowering his sword for a second. The creatures came closer. "Nico…"

"I'm working on it," replied the young demi-god and a moment latter the skeletons of the long dead sprung up and covered the monsters, tearing them apart and scattering the dust, kicking it into the holes they had appeared from. Soon enough they had disappeared after doing one last round of the tunnel. Percy had to say that he was still impressed by the powers that Nico possessed; they weren't as awesome as Frank's, but still.

"Here," said Percy, pushing Nico back into their crevice, "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed as soon as they were safe inside. Nico stared blankly up at him.

"I came back to offer you help," he stated bluntly, "You know, maybe show you where these doors actually are since that is where you are planning to go." Percy smiled somewhat sheepishly at him.

"Well, I couldn't tell Annabeth I was planning to stay behind now could I?" he said, shrugging with some guilt. Zeus, she was going to kill him.

"I suppose not. I can't say I'm too thrilled on the idea either."

"Well, what else is there to do?" Percy cried softly, eyeing the dust at the very far end beginning to stir, "I certainly wasn't going to let her stay behind."

"So you chose to die instead." Nico sighed, "Percy, have you ever stopped to consider whether it would really be all that bad to allow other people to make the sacrifices instead of you for a change?" The son of Poseidon did not grace that question with an answer.

"If this is about my fatal flaw…" he began, "Look, unless you are going to help me you might as well go back and join the others. Tell them not to come back for me." It was there and then that Nico decided what he had to do.

"Percy…"

"What?" said the demi-god as he turned back to watch the monsters Nico's skeletons had destroyed reform themselves.

"You are no doubt the most powerful demi-god I have ever met," Nico began, "And I am truly sorry for this, but it has to be done."

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked, but at that point, something large and hard hit him in the back of the head and the world turned a bottomless black.

* * *

Percy groaned and rolled his head to the side, reluctant to open his eyes and even more reluctant to prove that everything that had befallen him had not been just a dream. A prodding on his arm forced him to comply with these demands however.

"Ah, the great son of Poseidon is awake," Leo proclaimed. This earned him a punch on the arm from Annabeth, a glass of water in the face from Percy, and laughs from everyone else present.

"May I ask how I got back on the Argo II without recalling haven gotten on board myself?" Percy asked. Annabeth smiled down on him, pushing him back down as he tried to sit up on the bed he was laying in.

"Careful, you shouldn't be rushing around, you had a pretty hard knock to the head," she said, ordering him about like she usually did, "As to how you got here, well Jason and Frank went back in through the door on their side after getting me out and followed the tunnels along until they found you knocked out and hidden in the crevice where we had stopped earlier. Frank carried you back after which we closed the door and lugged you back onto the ship after defeating the few creatures left over from the underworld that were still trying to kill us and destroy the ship. We then headed out to sea." Percy looked at his girl-friend for moment before coolly and calmly posing another question which had them all closing their eyes against the harsh truth.

"Where's Nico?"

Nobody met Percy's gaze as he said this. Jason looked down and Frank looked away. Leo engaged Piper in a quiet conversation while Hazel quietly broke down.

"Annabeth…"

"Percy, just promise you won't blame yourself for his death," the blonde said, "I know you and what you will do." Percy, however, just stared back up at her, green eyes swimming with tears before he blinked them back. He closed them for a second before allowing them to reopen to the apprehensive stares of the other six demi-gods.

"That little…he shouldn't have…I was supposed to…" he began, unable to finish any of his sentences as gigantic waves of many separate emotions crashed around inside him. Guilt, remorse, anger and pain he felt and the sorrow, oh the intense, raging sorrow that washed everything else away like a great tsunami. "Nico…" he gasped at last, sitting up and placing his head in his hands. Why was he always the one who had to suffer by watching his friends, his family get taken? Why couldn't they just leave him alone? As if on cue, the brass mirror at the end of the room flashed, showing the divine face of Zeus' queen.

"You little-" Percy yelled as he stood and moved quickly towards the apparition, the others too slow to stop him in time.

"Now, now," Hera chided, "What sort of greeting is that my little demi-god?" Percy stood fuming in front of the large disk of metal.

"What do you want now?" was all he said, gracing the heavenly goddess with only five short, blunt words.

"Now I understand you're angry, but you must understand, it was the boy's fate to take his place in closing those doors; you were needed for much more important things." Hazel made to lunge at the image but both Frank and Annabeth held her back. No one, however, was holding back Percy.

"You do _not_ get to decide whether it was fate or not," he shouted as he picked up various objects one by one and hurled them at the mirror, "Nico was more than just a boy, more than just a pawn in your vicious games of power and revenge. He was a good brother and a loyal friend and so much more than you will _ever_ be." Hera's face turned deadly and Jason and Frank, seeing this, dove at Percy to stop him from incurring her wrath any more than he already had.

"I will forgive your little outburst only for the fact I still need you to complete the quest to defeat Gaia," she said coldly, glowering at him all the while, "If you insult me like that again however, I will end your worthless life before the last word can even leave your lips. Are we clear?"

"You can take your quest and stuff it up your-" This time it was Annabeth who cut him off.

"Percy, don't antagonise her," the blonde begged. Percy ignored her and pulled himself from the grip of the two demi-gods holding him, shoving them off as he drew himself up, the room falling deadly silent.

Several floorboards of the ship creaked as the sea swirled ominously around it, the small waves lapping against the sides only a taste of something much darker lurking beneath it, waiting to break free of the bonds that held it in place. The sky too seemed to darken, as if the storm clouds had been drawn by the equally stormy looking sea. Sea creatures nearby turned tail and fled, refusing to be within a two mile radius of the Argo II, which itself seemed to still, coach Hedge suddenly finding himself unable to steer the boat anywhere as the various sails and masts of the Argo II loomed threateningly overhead. And at the centre of all this, the menacing atmosphere radiated from one place, and one place alone.

Percy stepped forward and smiled coldly at the god before him.

"Very well, I will finish this little quest of yours if only to save my friends and to ensure Nico's sacrifice wasn't in vain. However, the moment Gaia has been defeated, the moment this is all over, it is _all _over for good. You and all of Olympus, be it Roman or Greek, will never seek my help again, ever. If you do, I will tear you from your thrones myself and crush each and every one of you before you even know what's hit you," Percy ended, never losing the eerily clam tone he had started with. Hera glared daggers at him.

"You insolent little fool," she screeched, pointing one perfectly manicured finger at him, "How dare you even claim that you have more power than the gods of Olympus! How dare you threaten us in that arrogant manner of yours!"

"Oh, but it wasn't a threat," Percy replied icily, "It was a fact. And you have no idea what I'm capable of." With that, every drop of water in the room rushed as a single column towards the mirror and the apparition of Hera on it. She screamed and panicked, pointing her finger again turning the stream of water into a cloud of steam.

"How dare you-" she began. But this time it was Percy's turn to cut her off.

"No, how dare _you_," he said, "You think you can use us, your own children, to achieve whatever ends you desire? Well no more! As of the time where this world is returned to its natural state, _all_ of you will never ask so much as a favour again. You will never sacrifice us for your own good again. You wanted a lose canon? While you've got one and I'm here for good."

"Your fatal flaw will kill you," Hera said slowly after pausing for a moment and studying the furious demi-god in front of here. The other six were all crowded at the back, eyes wide in fear at the rage Percy had just displayed.

"No," Percy growled, "My friends will be what save me when you fail to get my back like you have always failed to." He tore down the mirror as the last word past his lips, letting it fall clattering to the floor with a loud crash. Everyone behind him jumped.

"Percy…" Annabeth said almost timidly after a few minutes past. He turned to meet her gaze, his green eyes no longer blazing with the deadly energy of a tropical storm.

"It always happens," he said sadly, looking down as his eyes glazed over, a haunted look covering the sea-green spheres, "Someone close always gets hurt, whether they end up being taken from me or not."

"I know," Annabeth said gently, gesturing behind her for the rest to clear out. They obeyed.

"But why?" said the son of Poseidon, and he would have crumpled to the ground if Annabeth's arms had not caught him around the middle.

"I don't know why," was all she said as she kneelt, stroking his wild, black hair as he sobbed on her shoulder. After he seemed to have cried himself out, she led him back to the bed he had been previously occupying and tucked him in, kissing him lightly on the nose as she did so.

She stayed with him until his eyes drifted closed, fingering his hair and holding his hand the whole time, thankful for the fact that he was still here with her. She knew she would never be able to thank Nico enough for what he had done in staying behind and forcing Percy to leave him behind as well.

Finally Annabeth stood, retrieving the mirror from the floor and carrying it to the door. She stared at her lover for one last moment before exiting, leaving the broken demi-god to be in his sleep. Stepping away from the door, she looked up at the five others around her before looking back down on the dented mirror.

"And that is why you _never _make Percy angry," she said, shivering at the thought of the power she had felt flowing around him as he had stood opposing Hera. Beside her, the others just nodded their heads.

"Amen to that sister," Leo finally said, his eyes riveted on the small hole the water had managed to bore through the flattened metal before Hera had succeeded with her magic.

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